Code Red Blu-ray Discussion Thread (RIP Bill "Bananaman" Olsen)

[fuzzymctiger]

Originally Posted by jeepersitsthecreeper

Hopefully Bill was just saying that to boost the sales of "The Electric Char"?
It would be a good plan. Lol.

However, I know that I'll be picking up any and all Code Red movies on Blu-ray.
I never bought even one single dvd through them, but Bill can have my word that I'm picking up "The Electric Chair", and especially "Nail Gun Massacre", (which is certainly going to sale more that that other movie that I've never heard of, and a good half of horror fans haven't either)!


But I'd really love to get "Just Before Dawn". I have it on dvd, so do most horror fans (the only market that Code Red really targets), so why would I rebuy it on dvd?! I'm BLU or no sale on ALL Code Red titles.

Ill probably buy most of them if they're cheap ($25 to $20 or under, im not like some people who say "Ill only buy it if it goes under $10), but ill definantly be getting Nail Gun.

[Cinema84]

Yeah, apparently he has access to an uncut master but not the longer version that has additional dialogue bits and other "padding" footage. I'll gladly buy a remastered uncut version on DVD but it would be so much sweeter if it were a Blu-ray.

[Omen2002]

Originally Posted by spawningblue

Apparently Bill has said Just Before Dawn hitting Blu depends on how well The Electric Chair sells on Blu. Kind of strange to decide the fate on possibly the biggest title the company has ever had hitting Blu on sales of a title without much fanfare and that was a freebie (Although cut) on the Something Weird Axe DVD. Shouldn't it have been the other way around!? See how well Just Before Dawn sells on Blu that start taking a chance with smaller titles?

Real great plan there Code Red. It does sound like they have it backwards in regards which to release due to sales performance.

If that's true then they may want to remove this quote from their website "And finally the biggest announcement is JUST BEFORE DAWN, and this time it's nice and clean and in HD, as I spared no expense to do this one right from the original interneg."

[Jimmy S]

Originally Posted by redrunner97

One question though, is it confirmed that these will be limited in the sense that it will be like a Limited Edition (similar to Twilight Time releases) or just a small number of pressings at a time? If that made any sense at all... Thanks.

This isn't confirmed per se, but the initial pressing is always between 300 or 500 units. If a title sell well enough a second pressing can happen, but it's a safe bet to say that no Code Red titles had more than 1000 units pressed since Bill started self distribute his catalogue and have found a pressing plant doing small order.

[junyab]

Originally Posted by spawningblue

Apparently Bill has said Just Before Dawn hitting Blu depends on how well The Electric Chair sells on Blu. Kind of strange to decide the fate on possibly the biggest title the company has ever had hitting Blu on sales of a title without much fanfare and that was a freebie (Although cut) on the Something Weird Axe DVD. Shouldn't it have been the other way around!? See how well Just Before Dawn sells on Blu that start taking a chance with smaller titles?

That's hilarious...Bill has no clue how to run a business. Luckily he's been good enough to survive the recession. Or maybe I should say it's good he's been lucky enough to survive the recession.

[DarknessBDJM]

I've never understood why more of these more obscure titles aren't put out as double bills.

[Jimmy S]

Originally Posted by DarknessBDJM

I've never understood why more of these more obscure titles aren't put out as double bills.

double bills don't sell and it's a lot of trouble as you have to deal with two licensors accusing each others to be responsible for the low ammount of sales. Double bills aren't headaches inducing as long as the movie came from the same organization (by exemple Shout! and their Corman line) or public domain.

Also the fans of this genre aren't interested in getting double features.... I sure ain't and many others I know aren't.

[NoirFan]

No one is going to buy The Electric Chair anyway, other than a small handful of hardcore exploitation/drive-in fans. I'm still scratching my head over it being chosen for their Blu-ray debut.

[Jimmy S]

Originally Posted by NoirFan

No one is going to buy The Electric Chair anyway, other than a small handful of hardcore exploitation/drive-in fans.

That's your opinion, but not everything release in the world had to be "horror movie" or movie released one hundred times already...

I'll buy that way before another release of Evil Dead or The Howling or Day of the Dead...

But we can't have all the same tastes as that would make the world a boring place.

[Cinema84]

Is THE MAD BOMBER going to be one of Bill's inaugural Blurays? I've heard a lot of positive things about that one - I'll be glad to pick it up, especially if it's a BD. I, for one, am glad that they're not focusing on just horror movies as there are plenty of good little-known films that have not even had a DVD release yet in many genres. Isn't Trick or Treats (1982) supposed to be a comedy?

[NoirFan]

Originally Posted by Jimmy S

That's your opinion, but not everything release in the world had to be "horror movie" or movie released one hundred times already...

I'm not giving an opinion as to the quality of the film itself, just stating that it will sell very few copies. That seems pretty self evident. When you are debuting a new Blu-ray line, it only makes sense to start with a title that has commercial appeal, however minor, and that casual viewers may have actually heard of.

[Omen2002]

Originally Posted by NoirFan

I'm not giving an opinion as to the quality of the film itself, just stating that it will sell very few copies. That seems pretty self evident. When you are debuting a new Blu-ray line, it only makes sense to start with a title that has commercial appeal, however minor, and that casual viewers may have actually heard of.

That sums it perfectly.

It would be one thing to start your BD line with an obscure title with the intention to keep releasing more titles despite how poorly your first release sells. But to say, you won't release a title that is known to more people, if your obscure debut title doesn't sell well just sounds like a poor business decision. The only way it could be thought of as being smart is if it was to try and force people to buy something they may not want, just to see Just Before Dawn released. I would really really love to have Just Before Dawn on Blu-Ray as it's one of my most wanted horror titles. But when I read that it's chance of release is based on the sales of a much lesser known title, that just turns me right off.

[Undeadcow]

Originally Posted by spawningblue

Apparently Bill has said Just Before Dawn hitting Blu depends on how well The Electric Chair sells on Blu...

Some of the responses to this suggest that people really are as gulliable as Bill seems to think they are. I get the fanboy frenzy around Just Before Dawn; but does anyone seriously think Bill would just sit on it? [Even with Nightmares I suspect he is patiently building to milk an inevitable re-relase].

[NoirFan]

Originally Posted by Undeadcow

Some of the responses to this suggest that people really are as gulliable as Bill seems to think they are.

But not gullible enough to buy The Electric Chair!

[Omen2002]

Originally Posted by Undeadcow

Some of the responses to this suggest that people really are as gulliable as Bill seems to think they are. I get the fanboy frenzy around Just Before Dawn; but does anyone seriously think Bill would just sit on it? [Even with Nightmares I suspect he is patiently building to milk an inevitable re-relase].

The quote didn't mention not releasing it. It was that it might not be "hitting Blu".

[DarknessBDJM]

Originally Posted by Jimmy S

double bills don't sell and it's a lot of trouble as you have to deal with two licensors accusing each others to be responsible for the low ammount of sales. Double bills aren't headaches inducing as long as the movie came from the same organization (by exemple Shout! and their Corman line) or public domain.

Also the fans of this genre aren't interested in getting double features.... I sure ain't and many others I know aren't.

I wouldn't think of a company doing it with films from different rights holders, but I'm sure a lot of people would rather take a chance on two potentially risky b or c movies rather than one, which is why Echo Bridge and Mill Creek are releasing packages with 2-4 films on them, and why MGM did it. Those multi movie packs sell surprisingly well at both big stores like Wal-Mart and specialty music and media stores like Newbury Comics here in the northeastern U.S.

[Jimmy S]

Originally Posted by NoirFan

When you are debuting a new Blu-ray line, it only makes sense to start with a title that has commercial appeal, however minor, and that casual viewers may have actually heard of.

Code red doesn't release mainstream stuff for the casual viewer, the fact they release obscure movies is the reason why their fans love them. There are a ton of labels releasing known movie, not every labels had to be clone.

Originally Posted by DarknessBDJM

Those multi movie packs sell surprisingly well at both big stores like Wal-Mart and specialty music and media stores like Newbury Comics here in the northeastern U.S.

Maybe but Code Red doesn't sell their materials at store as Bill distribute and sell his materials exclusively at the Code Red (with one exception for an autorized seller at Amazon Marketplace).

[NoirFan]

Originally Posted by Jimmy S

Code red doesn't release mainstream stuff for the casual viewer, the fact they release obscure movies is the reason why their fans love them.

I didn't suggest they release mainstream films, I referred to 'minor commercial appeal', as in more than 72 votes on IMDB. In comparison, another of their previous releases, Don't Go in the Woods, despite being relatively obscure and micro-budgeted, has 1,215 votes. The term 'casual viewer' refers here to casual horror fans, not casual movie fans. Even among hardcore exploitation/drive-in types, The Electric Chair is an unknown entity. My primary assertion is still that The Electric Chair is an illogical, and likely ill-fated choice for a debut Blu-ray. That's it.

[KrugStillo]

According to Jeff Leiberman Just Before Dawn is not coming out by Code Red and if it does he is going to sue them. They apparently didn't have proper authorization the first time and definitely don't now. My close friend recently met Mr. Leiberman and asked him in person about the release of Just Before Dawn. They are however working on HD transfers for his movies but he has very strong feelings about letting Code Red anywhere near them. This is straight from the horses mouth, so to speak.

[NoirFan]

^
Wasn't there a similar situation with Popcorn? What ever happened to that one?